Question
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 1 Discussion
DQ1 The Plucknette article suggests that there are considerable differences between being a leader and being a manager. Is it possible or desirable to be both? Chapter 2 of the Management textbook suggests that the four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Provide one challenge posed by serving as a leader and one challenge posed by serving as a manager in each of these functions?
DQ2 What roles do leadership and innovation play within each of the four management functions? Provide an example of how to integrate leadership into at least two management functions.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 2 Discussion
DQ1 Provide an example of a challenge you have experienced in the workplace leading a cross-functional team or as part of a cross-functional team. How was this challenge solved? Would you have approached the challenge differently? If so, how?
DQ2 Organizations are increasingly transcending country boarders and physical space limitations. What are some effective strategies to motivate dispersed team members in a virtual setting? What are some emerging trends that deal with this challenge in your field? Provide an example.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 3 Discussion
DQ1 An individual manager’s ability to make ethical decisions is influenced by many factors, such as individual traits and corporate culture. Applying conscious capitalism principles typically starts with a plan from the CEO and requires the plan to be implemented through various management levels and all employees. What role does ethics play in conscious capitalism and how do the ethics of conscious capitalism impact management tactics within an organization?
DQ2 Post a draft of your Strategic Management and Socially Conscious Organization Presentation assignment to the Main Forum. Read two classmates’ presentations and provide feedback to your peers about their presentations. Are there areas that need adjustments?
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 4 Discussion
DQ1 What are the major elements of strategic planning? Refer to HBS case reprint, Southwest Airlines: In a Different World. What elements of strategic planning are present in the case study? Based on the case study, what are the major challenges of strategic planning, especially for large, complex organizations like Southwest airlines? What challenges does strategic planning on such a large scale pose for leaders?
DQ2 What have you experienced or what do you anticipate as the most challenging aspect of strategic planning in your field of interest? What do you think can be done to improve strategic planning processes in your own organization or field?
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 5 Discussion
DQ1 In “Business Model Innovation in Practice,” Euchner and Ganguly (2014) discuss the challenge of implementing innovations within organizations that are naturally resistant to change. They present a systematic approach for integrating innovations to increase the likelihood of acceptance and success. Review their five-step approach and discuss how the four functions of management (planning, organizing, leading and controlling) can be leveraged within in their suggested approach to assist organizations in implementing successful innovations.
DQ2 What do you anticipate will be the greatest challenge of operationalizing strategy across various business functions? Do you think the challenges change depending on the circumstances? Provide an example within your field.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 6 Discussion
DQ1 Return to HBS case reprint, “Southwest Airlines: In a Different World.” The case study makes it clear that a significant shift in organizational strategy requires collaboration across multiple departments, or functions, within a business. Review the case and discuss how you think Southwest’s plan to serve La Guardia would impact two primary business functions (e.g., marketing, operations, human resources, finance, accounting, and IT). Consider how coordinating efforts of the two functions to successfully serve La Guardia might affect management and decision making. How integral is collaboration among business functions to the success of Southwest’s plan? Cite specifics from the case in your response.
DQ2 Provide an example in which managerial decision making has positively or negatively affected you? How did the personal decision-making styles used by managers apply to the situation? What is your take away from the example you provided after your reading about managerial decision making in this topic?
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 7 Discussion
DQ1 An organization’s landscape can be expansive and complex. Most organizations rely heavily upon information technology as a way to achieve outcomes. Conduct a needs assessment on your current organization or a familiar organization. Evaluate the cross-functionality of departments to identify gaps or opportunities for more effectively utilizing information technology to improve collaboration, efficiency, and communication. Recommend improvements based on your assessment. Include an explanation of the benefits in your proposal.
DQ2 Respond to the “Apply Your Skills: Case for Critical Analysis: Email Adventure,” located at the end of Chapter 17 in the Management textbook.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 8 Discussion
DQ1 From the perspective of a general manager in your field, which of the organizational control methods outlined in Chapter 19 of the Management textbook do you think would be the most universal? What does organizational control look like in your sphere of influence?
DQ2 Consider your Strategic Plan: Presentation video assignment. Write a brief description on how you plan to organize and present your Strategic Plan or share a draft of your video. Provide feedback to your peers about their initial plans for their videos. Are there areas that need adjustments?
 
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 3 Assignment  
Strategic Management and Socially Conscious Organizati3on Presentation
Create a 7-10 slide presentation with speaker notes on an organization that exhibits characteristics of a socially conscience organization. Cite the mission and vision in your presentation. Explain how the mission and vision are translated into implementation of strategy. Be sure to provide specific examples.
As a manager, your role is to carry out the mission and vision of the organization in daily life, ensuring alignment between managerial tactics and the organization’s mission and vision. Examine the organization’s alignment through the following concepts: corporate social responsibility, corporate culture, personal ethics, leadership, followership, and competitive advantage.
APA format is required for essays only. Solid academic writing is always expected. For all assignment delivery options, documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 4 Assignment  
Strategic Planning: SWOT Analysis and Goals
Strategic planning within organizations provides a plethora of benefits to the organization including meeting goals specified in the plan and contributing to the long-term success of an organization. Refer to Exhibit 8.3: The Strategic Management Process, located in Chapter 8 of the Management textbook.
For this assignment, select either your own organization or one you know enough about to complete a series of assignments related to strategic planning for a proposal you would like to implement. The same organization will be used in the following assignments:
Strategic Planning: Strategy Map (Topic 4)
Strategic Planning: Action Plan (Topic 5)
Strategic Planning: Communication Plan (Topic 7)
Strategic Planning: Evaluation (Topic 8)
Strategic Planning: Presentation (Topic 8)
Once you have selected the organization, identify a strategic goal through preforming a SWOT analysis within your sphere of influence. For example, if you are not currently in a management or leadership position, it is acceptable to focus on a more focused area of your organization you are currently in a position to impact. If you are a classroom teacher, perhaps you see opportunities for improving access to technology in your district. If you are a nurse, perhaps you see opportunities to improve communication processes in your department, etc.
A SWOT analysis is part of strategy formulation that leads to goal setting and then progresses to the development of a strategic plan. Be sure to follow the criteria for effective goals as illustrated to Exhibit 7.5, located in Chapter 7 of the Management textbook.
Complete a SWOT analysis using the “SWOT Analysis” template. Consider the following guiding questions as you complete the SWOT Analysis:
What are the recognized strengths of your identified area?
What does your identified area do better than other companies?
What unique capabilities or resources does you identified area possess?
What do other companies consider to be your strength?
What are the recognized weaknesses of your identified area?
What do competitors do better than your identified area?
What areas can be improved at your current position?
What do other companies consider to be your weakness?
What trends or conditions impact the company in a positive way?
What opportunities exist for the identified area?
What trends or conditions impact the identified area in a negative way?
What is the competition doing that may have an impact on your identified area?
Does your identified area have solid financial support?
What impact does your weakness have on the threats your identified area faces?
These questions are samples of what you may need to address in your SWOT Analysis. Using the SWOT analysis results, develop at least one strategic goal. Submit both the completed SWOT analysis document and the strategic goal.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 5 Assignment  
Strategic Planning: Strategy Map
The Strategic Planning: SWOT Analysis assignment completed in Topic 4 helped you identify a strategic goal within your sphere of influence. This assignment asks you to visually represent the cause-and-effect relationship among goals, operations, and stakeholders. In addition, this assignment seeks to examine the impact on various operational processes within the selected organization
According to your Management textbook, a strategy map “is a visual representation of the key drivers of an organization’s success, showing the cause-and-effect relationship among goals and plans.” Refer to Exhibit 7.4 in the textbook. A strategy map seeks to align organizational goals into strategy and provide clear direction for the organization.
Review the mission statement of your selected organization. Prior to creating a strategy map, identify your stakeholders. Complete a stakeholder analysis to identify and prioritize the various stakeholders. Refer to the “Stakeholder Analysis” resource from Mindtools and complete all steps.
Based on your strategic goal, create a strategy map using Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Visio, or other software. Include only the required perspectives (financial, customer, internal, and learning and growth) that pertain to the strategic goal in your map. The cause-and-effect relationships are described by connecting arrows.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 6 Assignment  
Benchmark – Strategic Planning: Action Plan
Use your completed strategy map to formulate functional-level strategy for the primary business functions included in your plan. Functional-level strategies are the action plans used by departments within organizations to support the execution of business-level strategy at the managerial level. Create a 500-750 word action plan that addresses the following:
Identify which management tactics and strategies you will implement to meet your strategic goals for each of the stakeholders, departments, or business functions impacted by your plan: MBO, MBM, single-use or standing plans, competitive advantage, contingency planning, building scenarios, crisis planning, and innovation.
Provide an explanation of how you will apply managerial decision-making methods throughout your action plan.
Which business functions will be impacted by your action plan? What tactics will you use to manage implementation across business functions? What can you do to enhance collaboration/cross-functionality to ensure the success of your plan?
Identify leadership strategies you plan to implement throughout the execution of your action plan. In particular, explain which strategies you would implement to foster team collaboration among the multiple stakeholders who must collaborate to successfully implement the plan. Why do you think these will be successful?
While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 7 Assignment  
Benchmark – Strategic Planning: Communication Plan
Using your completed action plan, create a 500-750 word communication plan for disseminating your action plan to all of the stakeholders. Which strategies do you plan to utilize and why? Your plan should demonstrate how you plan to use formal and informal communication channels to implement the plan.
In addition, explain how the communication plan addresses what you are hoping to achieve with your strategic goal. What leadership or managerial skills will you draw upon in implementing this plan?
While APA format is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
 
 
 
 
 
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 8 Assignment  
Strategic Plan: Evaluation
In order to complete your strategic plan, select the methods you will use to evaluate how your strategic goal is being met. Include specific metrics that will be used to evaluate the success of the implementation of the plan. What types of controls will you use? Provide your response in 250-500 words.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
 
LDR620 Leading a General Manager
Week 8 Assignment  
Strategic Plan: Presentation
Effective oral communication is essential in the business setting, especially when it comes to achieving buy-in for significant, complex, or costly change. To practice your oral communication skills, create a 5-7 minute oral presentation of your strategic plan for your manager or director or other essential stakeholders whose approval you would require. Be sure to address the “why” and “how” for your strategic plan in the presentation, providing all the necessary details your audience needs to make an informed decision. Record yourself presenting the plan using YouTube or any other video site that allows you to post your video. Adhere to the following:
Be sure to demonstrate appropriate and meaningful professionalism for the intended audience which include proper pace, tone, inflection, pronunciation, and meaningful gestures that convey clarity.
Be sure the audio included in the video is clear and free of technological glitches that diminish the audio quality.
Be sure the visual appearance of the video is free of technological glitches that diminish the visual quality.
Please refer to the “How to Share a Private YouTube Video” if you are concerned with privacy issues.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.